I have not been able to add much over the last two weeks because I have been trying to read more and gather as much information as possible on karma and jnana. It is still in process and I am reading Chapter-2 of Gita, Saankya yogam, again and again. It is getting clearer but should take some more time.
It is said that all this knowledge is already with us and the only thing required is unlearning them. How does a sculptor create a beautiful statue from a very crude stone? Just be chiseling away the unwanted parts of the same. We have over a period of time accumulated a lot of unnecessary ideas, beliefs and superstitions which are actually putting a veil on the core ideas that help us realize who we are. So what is required basically is to undergo a process to cleanse ourselves from within and bring out that shining diamond of knowledge.
It is really worth noting that the scriptures say we are nothing but that Parabrahmam itself. And hence we cannot be a less important normal creature. The beauty of the concept is well highlighted by
Poornamadha poornamidham
Poornath poornamudchyathay
Poornasya poornamaadaya
Poornamevavashishyathay
Meaning: That (parabrahmam) is also complete, this (myself) is also complete. What is generated from that which is complete is also complete. And when we take something from that complete, what remains is also complete.
Jagadguru Sankarachaarya once pleaded mercy to God for committing three sins:
1. He tried to visualize the Brahman in a very small idol and thus belittled Him
2. He tried to limit the all encompassing Brahman into few places of pilgrim and thus belittled Him
3. He tried to praise the indescribable Brahman in few words or hymns and thus belittled Him.
Frankly, when I stand now before anything – be it a wick lamp or photo or an idol; fold my hands and try to concentrate on it and pray I feel so bad. This is no excuse for not going to temple (a few weeks back I used to daily go to temple) or trying to prove that I have realized Brahman (I am far away from it) but trying to share the feeling that comes in once we really understand the meaning of the above verses as well as Sree Sankara’s plead for mercy. It becomes a way of life, to see God in all living and non-living beings and thus get filled with that wonderful nectar of love and joy.
This does not mean to be a Sanyasi. A Sanyasi or Sthithaprajnan is the one who sees the oneness (advaita) in all and treats win and lose or heat and cold in the same token, same manner. He can be a household person, have wife children etc but with this ultimate knowledge that he is not that mere body that he thinks he is; he is the Parabrahman itself. And once you start thinking that, you need to play the role well – right? How would you ever sin then, how would you ever be sad then.
We see who a Sthithaprajnan is in the next few slokas (probably next post) to come. But before that let share my thoughts or understanding on the routes of karmayoga and jnanayoga.
The path that takes us to the realization of Brahman and thus moksha is only that of Jnana or Knowledge and hence that is the supreme path. The path of Karma should ultimately lead to path of Knowledge path and thus lead us to the same place. But when we allow ourselves to be driven by the senses and not brain then we may lose our way or say be late to join that path of Knowledge. It is not possible to tread both paths at the same time.
If you decide to be in path of Knowledge, we should take the path of Sanyasis in the normally used sense. Leave everything and tread through path of knowledge and meditation to seek Brahman. But if you have decided to tread the other path, even then you should do it without attachment to results (as already explained in previous post). For the same reason we have well defined structure of growing and maturing as
1. Brahmachari ( a student)
2. Grihastha ( a householder)
3. Vanaprastha ( a forest dweller)
4. Sanyasa.
By the time we reach the last stage we are supposed to learn from each stage, do all our karmas in each stage as an offering to Lord and thus through ultimate knowledge attain moksha.
Now does sanyasi or muni mean to be devoid of family wife? No. All sanyasis or munis you read in our scriptures have wife and children. But it is the way we look at it that matters. Even acts of sex were done with a spiritual outlook and were not subject to vasana. And let me add one more thing – kama in Sanskrit is different from kama in other languages; in Sanskrit it is nothing but desire and not lust. We will get into this topic more, later.
(The above can be corrected by somebody who feels I am wrong, as I have tried to present what I know about the same. I am still reading Karma yoga of Bhagavad Gita but have just penned down my thoughts – let us mature together)
I just put together three slokas which I tell myself daily, meaning of which has already been explained. I would request each reader to understand the meaning and then repeat the same – each time analyzing the meaning better.
Poornamadha poornamidham
Poornath poornamudchyathay
Poornasya poornamaadaya
Poornamevavashishyathay
Kayena vacha manasendriyairva
Buddhyatmana va prakrite swabhavath
Karomi yadyad sakalam parasmai
Narayanayeti samarpayami
Asathoma sathgamaya
Thamasoma jyothiramaya
Mrithyoma amrithamgamaya
Meaning: God lead me from that is not true to the truth, from the darkness (ignorance) to the light (knowledge) and from death to life (from the notion that I am this body that dies to the notion that I am this Atman which never dies)
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti !!!
It is said that all this knowledge is already with us and the only thing required is unlearning them. How does a sculptor create a beautiful statue from a very crude stone? Just be chiseling away the unwanted parts of the same. We have over a period of time accumulated a lot of unnecessary ideas, beliefs and superstitions which are actually putting a veil on the core ideas that help us realize who we are. So what is required basically is to undergo a process to cleanse ourselves from within and bring out that shining diamond of knowledge.
It is really worth noting that the scriptures say we are nothing but that Parabrahmam itself. And hence we cannot be a less important normal creature. The beauty of the concept is well highlighted by
Poornamadha poornamidham
Poornath poornamudchyathay
Poornasya poornamaadaya
Poornamevavashishyathay
Meaning: That (parabrahmam) is also complete, this (myself) is also complete. What is generated from that which is complete is also complete. And when we take something from that complete, what remains is also complete.
Jagadguru Sankarachaarya once pleaded mercy to God for committing three sins:
1. He tried to visualize the Brahman in a very small idol and thus belittled Him
2. He tried to limit the all encompassing Brahman into few places of pilgrim and thus belittled Him
3. He tried to praise the indescribable Brahman in few words or hymns and thus belittled Him.
Frankly, when I stand now before anything – be it a wick lamp or photo or an idol; fold my hands and try to concentrate on it and pray I feel so bad. This is no excuse for not going to temple (a few weeks back I used to daily go to temple) or trying to prove that I have realized Brahman (I am far away from it) but trying to share the feeling that comes in once we really understand the meaning of the above verses as well as Sree Sankara’s plead for mercy. It becomes a way of life, to see God in all living and non-living beings and thus get filled with that wonderful nectar of love and joy.
This does not mean to be a Sanyasi. A Sanyasi or Sthithaprajnan is the one who sees the oneness (advaita) in all and treats win and lose or heat and cold in the same token, same manner. He can be a household person, have wife children etc but with this ultimate knowledge that he is not that mere body that he thinks he is; he is the Parabrahman itself. And once you start thinking that, you need to play the role well – right? How would you ever sin then, how would you ever be sad then.
We see who a Sthithaprajnan is in the next few slokas (probably next post) to come. But before that let share my thoughts or understanding on the routes of karmayoga and jnanayoga.
The path that takes us to the realization of Brahman and thus moksha is only that of Jnana or Knowledge and hence that is the supreme path. The path of Karma should ultimately lead to path of Knowledge path and thus lead us to the same place. But when we allow ourselves to be driven by the senses and not brain then we may lose our way or say be late to join that path of Knowledge. It is not possible to tread both paths at the same time.
If you decide to be in path of Knowledge, we should take the path of Sanyasis in the normally used sense. Leave everything and tread through path of knowledge and meditation to seek Brahman. But if you have decided to tread the other path, even then you should do it without attachment to results (as already explained in previous post). For the same reason we have well defined structure of growing and maturing as
1. Brahmachari ( a student)
2. Grihastha ( a householder)
3. Vanaprastha ( a forest dweller)
4. Sanyasa.
By the time we reach the last stage we are supposed to learn from each stage, do all our karmas in each stage as an offering to Lord and thus through ultimate knowledge attain moksha.
Now does sanyasi or muni mean to be devoid of family wife? No. All sanyasis or munis you read in our scriptures have wife and children. But it is the way we look at it that matters. Even acts of sex were done with a spiritual outlook and were not subject to vasana. And let me add one more thing – kama in Sanskrit is different from kama in other languages; in Sanskrit it is nothing but desire and not lust. We will get into this topic more, later.
(The above can be corrected by somebody who feels I am wrong, as I have tried to present what I know about the same. I am still reading Karma yoga of Bhagavad Gita but have just penned down my thoughts – let us mature together)
I just put together three slokas which I tell myself daily, meaning of which has already been explained. I would request each reader to understand the meaning and then repeat the same – each time analyzing the meaning better.
Poornamadha poornamidham
Poornath poornamudchyathay
Poornasya poornamaadaya
Poornamevavashishyathay
Kayena vacha manasendriyairva
Buddhyatmana va prakrite swabhavath
Karomi yadyad sakalam parasmai
Narayanayeti samarpayami
Asathoma sathgamaya
Thamasoma jyothiramaya
Mrithyoma amrithamgamaya
Meaning: God lead me from that is not true to the truth, from the darkness (ignorance) to the light (knowledge) and from death to life (from the notion that I am this body that dies to the notion that I am this Atman which never dies)
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti !!!
Big thoughts in simple words.
ReplyDelete---Keerthi